Good man

News blues

You can’t keep a good man down!

“After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field,” Dr Anthony Fauci said in a statement. “I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats.”

Joe Biden, [79 years old] in a statement recognizing Fauci’s coming departure, hailed [Fauci, 81 years old] as a “dedicated public servant, and a steady hand with wisdom and insight honed over decades at the forefront of some of our most dangerous and challenging public health crises.” 

Read more >> 
Watch interview with Dr Fauci on his announcement and his views on zoonotic diseases, and the current atmosphere of hate and anger in the US >>  (11:53 mins)

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A quick review of recent history – Covid and US response

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, on Sunday said the U.S. should not have had to rely on COVID data from Europe to protect Americans in the early days of the pandemic.
“In March of 2020, all of our data that I used to warn Americans of who was at risk for severe disease, hospitalization, and deaths came from our European colleagues,” Birx told CBS’ “Face the Nation. “That in itself should be an indictment of our system.”

Read more >> 

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On war and culture war

Russian soldier speaks out… ‘I don’t see justice in this war’: Russian soldier exposes rot at core of Ukraine invasion >> 
Watch interview with this Russian soldier >> (5:33 mins)

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The Lincoln Project:
Fire the Feds  (1:05 mins)
Receipts  (0:25 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Nurdles, nurdles everywhere but none that we can capture…

Maritime authorities are considering stricter controls on the ocean transport of billions of plastic pellets known as nurdles after a series of spillages around the world.
Campaigners warn that nurdles are one of the most common micro-plastic pollutants in the seas, washing up on beaches from New Zealand to Cornwall. The multicoloured pellets produced by petrochemical companies are used as building blocks for plastic products, from bags to bottles and piping.

So, the UN seeks a plan to beat plastic nurdles?
Here’s a plan: NO more manufacture and use of plastic bags. No, not allow consumers off the hook simply by paying 10 cents, or 15 cents, or 20 cents per plastic bag. NO more plastic bags produced at all.
Let ‘em use cloth bring-your-own bags… or use up the plastic bags already littering the planet, dispose of them carefully, then bring their own bags….
Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mary is amazing. She’s determined to quit her oxycodone use asap… Yesterday, she was down to 5mg every 8-plus hours. Today? She bit the small, white 5mg pill in half and plans to gauge her pain threshold accordingly. So far, so good. She says it is not “pain” she experiences as she fights this good fight, it’s more the feeling that her chest is “boxed in” and “squeezed”.

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Yesterday, Mary accompanied me and a friend to the Sacramento Delta where I’m looking at purchasing another liveaboard boat. Yes, liveaboard is in my future, again.
It was a lovely day in the Delta; hot, hot…

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Time, again, to track the change of seasons:
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:33am
Sunset: 7:49pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:23am
Sunset: 5:40pm